NORSA ICE 2016

12-10-2016

The NORSA ICE was back and better than ever to close out the wild ride that was 2016.  Up for the challenge, as always, were Steven L, Tom, Justin, and Dan Marino.  In a major NORSA milestone, Matt White attended his first NORSA ICE since 2003, when a dislike of cold nights and/or paranoia led to a gap of over a decade between winter camping adventures.  Rounding out the team was Steven S, about to move to Colorado and participating in his last NORSA ICE east of the Missouri for the foreseeable future.

The team planned to return to Dolly Sods, but due to a fire ban in the area, they instead set their sights on Table Rock.  Adjacent to Blackwater Falls State Park, this relatively new winter trail for NORSA had been traveled by Steven S in the summer a couple years prior.  Being close to the ski areas in West Virginia made it likely to be a prime and authentic ICE trip.

 The drive included patches of snow as they approached the destination.  Once inside the park, the last mile of the forest road wasn’t plowed so they stopped at a small parking area and hiked in the rest of the way.  At this point it was about noon and the car thermometers read 20 degrees F.

Their plan was to do a loop that covered the trails on day one and would return on a forest road in the morning.  However, they missed the turn onto the Plantation trail.  The next visible turn was onto a trail that was no longer maintained and reached a dead-end in a meadow.  Precious daylight was lost circumnavigating the meadow, bushwacking for a bit, and looking for clues on pieces of lumber.  At last they realized the error and opted to return to the forest road to hike to its terminus with the Table Rock trail.

Fortunately, making up time was no problem, other than a few large mud holes covered in thin ice.  A lost dog with a radio collar was roaming in these parts.  The owner showed up the next day taking his truck through these rugged sections of the road.

Despite the setbacks, they made it to the Table Rock campsite with enough daylight to set up camp and do some quick foraging.  The camp sites were practically on top of the trail and the fire ring was pretty small.  However, they had the area all to themselves, and the Table Rock overlook was certainly magnificent in winter.  Despite the snowy and wet trail conditions, there was a reasonable amount of firewood.  Eventually they were able to warm up around the fire with cold beer and freeze dried or foil wrapped dinners.

The wind and snow from earlier in the day had turned to calm skies by mid-evening.  As the fire waned, both Stevens and Tom enjoyed the stillness at the overlook.  The view was still impressive underneath a nearly full moon.  It was a moving moment for the trio to think of their many NORSA ICE adventures together, all the way back to the notorious Signal Knob-Warren Hospital trip.  Then the moment passed in favor of  yelling puerile phrases into the darkness to hear it echo.

The night temperature was estimated to be in the teens.  Everyone slept well except for Matt, who only had a 30 degree bag.  Despite Matt’s prediction to the contrary, everyone survived and the morning was pleasant, with one last trip to the overlook accompanied by a little cowboy coffee.  After packing up, it was a pretty straightforward hike back down the road.  They even found an extra hatchet on the way.

It was less straightforward to find a spot for lunch in Davis since everything was closed on Sunday.   Despite the uneven availability of burritos, West Virginia delivered another excellent outdoor experience.  A fitting send-off for Steven S after eight NORSA-rific years of camping in the mid-Atlantic.

NORSA ICE 2016 - Laurel Run!

On February 20th, 2016, veteran NORSA members Steve, Tom, Justin, Adam, and Aaron set off onto the Laurel Run trail in the George Washington National Forest for the annual NORSA Insane Cold-Weather Expedition (ICE). This ICE trip contained many traditions, such as the pre-hike rally at the Walmart in Front Royal followed by the unnecessarily yipster trip to Starbucks and the necessary pre-carousing stop at the Virginia ABC store across the street.

Other NORSA ICE standards include the obligatory act of leaving important equipment in the cars at the trailhead (in this case, raingear), vigorous discourse over losing the trail less than a mile in, tearfully lamenting the notable absence of NORSA members that had bailed out the day before (Neil and Eddie), and joyfully celebrating the traditional absence of NORSA-veteran Matt.

While traditional in many ways, this trip was notable for earning many NORSA superlatives.

This was the warmest NORSA-ICE (a high of 68 degrees),

featured the most selfies ever,


sported the largest NORSA fire,
 

and included the most colorful beverages ever.


After a delightfully diverse dinner, the campers settled in for the night under a full moon.

 
In the morning, after skillfully breaking camp and expertly adhering to leave-no-trace ethics, a somber rain fell upon the hikers. The warm temperatures, beautiful views, good company, and promise of a warm meal at Roy's kept spirits high as the team returned to their cars. Once again, a successful NORSA ICE.

60th Annual Potomac Downriver Race!

On Saturday, May 16th, NORSA paddlers Steve and Adam joined 42 other whitewater paddlers in the 60th running of the Potomac Downriver Race. Starting in Mather's Gorge right below Rocky Island, the racers took off in groups of 5-6 down the Potomac River to the finish line at Sycamore Island. At a relatively slow level of 3.5 ft, the racers slogged through a fair bit of flatwater, however they still enjoyed some excitement navigating the DC whitewater staples of Wet Bottom, Maryland Chute, Yellow Falls, and Stubblefield Falls. The hot sun proved itself a greater burden than the rapids; fortunately The Sycamore Island Club hosted a refreshing post-race party.

Results:
Steve: 1:14:25; 13th overall; 3rd in class (K1 Short); 3rd in age group.
Adam: 1:15:23; 16th overall; 10th in class (K1 Long); 4th in age group.

Start of the first wave.
Steve: #42 (third from right).
Adam: #39 (fourth from right)

2015 Cheat Downriver Race!

On May 1, 2015, veteran NORSA paddlers Steven and Adam, joined by NORSA newcomer Tom A, participated in the annual Cheat Downriver Race.  Billed as the largest mass-start downriver race (thus gaining the nickname, the "Massacre-ence"), over 160 paddlers raced down the 11 mile Cheat Canyon en mass, over and through continuous class III-IV rapids, including the notorious "Big Nasty," "High Falls," "Colliseum", and "Pete Morgan."

Adam:

The NORSA team had been training all winter long for this day, braving 20 degree days on a frozen Potomac river, high spring flows, and long weekend drives out to the Cheat and N. Branch of the Potomac.  Having had only run the Cheat once before, the NORSA veterans teamed up with Liquid Adventures' "Cheat Training" - a rite of passage for many DC paddlers - for weekday evening attaining and weekend downriver racing practices.

Steve:

The spring of 2015 was fortunately beset with weekly rains that kept the rivers flowing swiftly.  Come race day, the Cheat was at its lowest level all season.  At 5 PM, the racers lined up at the old washed out bridge in Albright, WV.  The NORSA racers were startled by the horn signaling the start of the race, and had to work their way up the pack.  As soon as they entered Decision rapid, the team was well on their way - gaining ground on the pack and giving up few spots for the remainder of the race.  The lower water level led to a slower race, with some changes in the rapids - BigNasty wasn't so big and nasty; Pete Morgan featured a new, giant hole in the run-out.

Tom:

An hour and a half and 11 miles later, after a couple flips, some unintentional surfing, and one swim, Team NORSA crossed the finish line under the Jenkinsburg Bridge, all within a few minutes of each other and comfortably in the top 1/3 of the pack, with a 10th place finish for TeamNORSA.  The racers celebrated with a rousing post-race party back in Albright, and as of the next morning were already looking forward to next year's MASSACRE-ENCE!

Results!

NORSA ICE 2015

January 30, 2015 - NORSA veterans Steven S, Steven L, Tom, Adam, Justin, the Neil, Eddie, and Aaron joined forces for one of the biggest NORSA ICE (Insane Cold-weather Excursion) trips in recent years, this time in the mountain state of West Virginia.  Fortunately the insanity was all under control thanks to top-notch planning meetings and Last of the Mohicans video clips viewed before the trip.  There would be no packing up in the middle of the night for this group.

The mission was simple.  Two cars would converge at a George Washington National Forest trailhead, hike about 6 miles in and 3 miles out with a 1300 ft elevation gain, make camp near White Rocks overlook, and maintain enough patriotism to be back on Sunday in time for the Super Bowl.

It was a brisk and windy morning when they hit the road west.   Things were quickly looking up, as all eight people were actually on time for the trip – a rare moment of NORSA ICE punctuality.  In just over two hours they were closing in on the trail.  Conditions were great until the last couple miles of a forest road, where Steven L had to put snow chains on his tires to navigate icy sections.  Adam helped install the chains and entertained the group by slipping on his arse, twice.

Everyone got loaded up and the hike started around noon.  Possibly distracted by many references to forgotten tent poles, Eddie left a glove behind, which was not recovered until the next day.  Fortunately it was warm enough without it as the Old Mail Path started a mile long ascent.  At the first turn onto the Racer Camp Hollow trail, they found a brief saddle and then climbed steadily for another 2 miles.  The snow pack varied from 4-6 inches, starting out firm with later powdery, deep, and steep sections.  A few pauses to remove layers and refuel kept morale high.

 Finally reaching the Tuscarora trail, the group got a break as the incline became more gradual.  They thought about carrying a chair, left in a hunter's camp, but were pretty well loaded already, including Aaron’s medical bag with skin stapler (not that that has ever been needed on a NORSA ICE before).  Just after reaching the apex, they found the turn toward the overlook and its large campsite.  The hike had taken just over 4 hours and there was still about an hour of daylight left.

 With eight people foraging, an adequate supply of firewood was gathered and Tom’s foil-packed Vaseline cotton balls were immediately effective.  The fire ring was barely big enough for eight people, but worked well except when Steven L felt the need to smother it.  Under a full moon, a trip out to the overlook was possible with no lights needed (although a surprising amount of city lights could be seen in the distance).  After a hot meal, a drink, commentary about Matt’s consistent absence, and a few cautionary tales from the urologist in the group, they settled in for the night. 

 Although it was one of the more snow-covered NORSA trips in a while, the temperature was pretty modest in the low 20s.  In the vicinity of the campsite there were a few sounds of animal movement and possibly an owl.   Overall though, everyone was reasonably warm and well-rested whether in tent or bivvy.

 The next morning's hike back to the cars was downhill and quick.  They got off the forest road with no trouble and then threw a slant to Roy Rogers’ for lunch.  Everyone enjoyed the sauce of the month and the really interesting debate at one end of the table on the marginal costs of driving.  They were back home by mid-afternoon, making the mission a complete success, despite what naysayers like Matt might have expected.

 



Kudos to Aaron for being in his first published NORSA trip and to Justin and Steven L for pictures so we don’t have to repeat Tom’s picture-less 2013 NORSA ICE post.